


Acoustic #3

by Kalloway



Series: The KHYML Mix Tape Challenge [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21911350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/pseuds/Kalloway
Summary: Leon loves - and loses - and wonders if it's really worth it.
Relationships: Leon/Original Character (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: The KHYML Mix Tape Challenge [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577572
Kudos: 1
Collections: The Lemonade Cafe





	Acoustic #3

**Author's Note:**

> November 1, 2004. KHYML Mix Tape Challenge.
> 
> Goo Goo Dolls - "Acoustic #3"
> 
> _"And I tried so hard to reach you_  
>  _But you're falling anyway"_

"I haven't seen anyone matching that description," Leon said as he poked at his rapidly cooling lunch.

"Are you sure?" the man replied. "There was another, a man..."

Leon knew that once he was identified as a source of information, it wasn't easy to get away. Not when he might know about the fate of some friend or loved one lost to the end of a world.

"Sit. Order," Leon said, pointing at the chair across from him. It wasn't as though he'd had much peace at the cafe anyway. The pesky staff had already stolen away ten minutes of his time with their seemingly unending report of the latest gossip.

The man now sitting across from his had actually been part of that bit of gossip. The pesky black-haired waitress had muttered something about him being downright impossible to miss.

He had introduced himself as Rainer. The name caught in Leon's mind for a moment, for the obvious reason.

Rainer was looking for his sister and another man who may have been with her. But if Rainer's appearance was any indication, they definitely would not be difficult to miss.

Every inch of Rainer's visible skin, save for parts of his face, was decorated with rich tribal tattoos. They arced and swirled, making spirals and diamonds, telling a tale of a world no longer in existence.

"Even if they are here, which they don't seem to be, I still have nowhere to go," Rainer said, picking up the menu he hadn't even noticed before and opening it.

"There's a hotel. And apartments over the shops," Leon said flatly. He wasn't a babysitter - he was downright sick of everyone relying on him.

Rainer sighed. "I guess you get this often, huh? Probably sick of it."

He set the menu down and looked at Leon, catching Leon's cool gaze and holding it.

* * *

Leon quite enjoyed the way Rainer's tattoos traced down his body in unending patterns. During the day they dipped beneath his clothing and at night they were like an instruction manual, telling Leon just where to touch and where to kiss.

He'd never felt so free with anyone, so open.

They buoyed each other through rough moments and made love through joyful ones. Leon couldn't really help himself.

Yet he knew Rainer couldn't really get over the loss of his sister and her husband. It nagged at Rainer's mind, slowly plunging him into a depression that Leon had a harder and harder time pulling Rainer back from.

And then it was like a downhill slope.

* * *

He knew he should have just expected it. He knew it was a mistake to fall in love. He knew it had been a bad decision to ever trace Rainer's tattoos downward, finding where they curled into tight spirals and ended.

Leon couldn't help feeling responsible though. He'd been the one who had told Rainer to sit with him, come with him, be with him. He knew Rainer had been lost without him and never should have left Rainer alone, even to handle another emergency.

Leon thought about getting a tattoo in memory, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. As much as he was hurting, he had no desire to dwell on one already lost.

He was cold and practical, he realized, and really had no business ever falling in love to begin with.


End file.
